Our goal is to help homeowners and renters like you make informed decisions -- because we believe that knowing is saving.

Saving you time by making it easy to compare all the best insurance options in one place? Yes. Saving you money by helping you find the lowest rates? Yes. Saving you from bad insurers -- and the pain of poor claims-handling and customer service? Yes. Basically, saving you from any of the guesswork that can prove to be costly.

With over 2,000 home insurance companies across the USA (big and small), finding the absolute best one -- both for your home and your wallet -- is challenging. But our mission is to change that: introducing The Home Insurance Guide and our proprietary rankings of the best home insurance companies for homeowners and renters just like you.

Our Methodology

How do we bring you the best home insurance options at the most competitive prices? First, our team has decades of combined experience in the insurance industry. We leveraged this experience and spent over 500 hours researching the nation’s leading home insurance providers, analyzing policies, and interviewing independent agents. All this groundwork led us to developing our proprietary home insurance company ratings and reviews. The ratings are scored on a scale of 1 to 5, and are based on several factors, including pricing, customer online experience, company financial strength, product offerings, and claims-handling.

Second, our team also has decades of combined experience building technology. Utilizing our research, we developed a proprietary algorithm. Ours is like those of the insurers’, but with a very different goal: our algorithm benefits homeowners and renters instead of the insurance companies.

Insurance companies, on the other hand, use their algorithms to help them get new and current customers to pay more.

It is important to keep in mind that home insurance rates are always changing. They are based on many complex and dynamic factors, including location, dwelling type, similar property losses, and much more. The type of homeowner or renter an insurer needs at a given moment is also constantly changing. For instance, sometimes they need more customers who fit a certain profile or are from a certain type of neighborhood. At the end of the day, their strategy comes down to balancing what is known as their risk pool. When they have too much of one type of risk, and not enough of another, their algorithms will tell them to seek out the types of homeowners they are lacking, and may even reward certain customers with lower rates.

What all this means is that if a new customer does not happen to fit the profile of what the insurance company is looking for, that customer will very likely be quoted, and could end up paying, a rate that is too high. In other words, it is almost like being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Existing customers too often end up overpaying as well. For instance, let’s say a customer purchased a policy at a time in which the insurer’s algorithm determined that this customer did not fit their ideal profile. Then let’s say between the initial purchase date and renewal time, the insurer’s algorithm determined that this same customer now does fit the ideal. Upon renewal, the customer will continue paying the same (now too high) amount as before, despite industry prices lowering. The reason is that when prices drop, insurance companies are not obligated to inform you, and are not required to lower the rates of existing customers. This can go on for months or even years. Without shopping around, the existing customer unknowingly keeps paying the higher price.

By contrast, our algorithm identifies and ranks the home insurance companies looking for and offering the best prices for homeowners and renters just like you at this very moment. By answering a few simple questions, you will not have to worry about overpaying -- because you will have all the best options in one easy place.

Taken together, our rankings, ratings, and reviews will save you time and money by matching you with only the most relevant, and thus best-priced providers. The first result you see wants to insure you the most, while those with the highest scores are rated best for your needs. To learn more about the companies that interest you, please click Read full review. When you are ready to start comparing quotes, begin by selecting View rates.

For most of us, home insurance is required when buying a home. The reason is that mortgage companies want their investment to be protected. The benefits, however, make it a good idea anyway -- home insurance protects homeowners from unexpected and costly damage to their home and property, as well as from the potential medical costs of any guests injured while on the property. Likewise, renters with renters insurance will have similar security benefits. While terms and extent of coverage vary greatly from policy to policy, in general home insurance is a safeguard for your home and financial well-being, as well as a source of security in your everyday life. As such, making sure the policy you go with is the right fit for your home and situation is key. Home insurance coverage can include the following:

Structural Damage Coverage:

If the structure of your home is damaged due to such risks as fire, falling objects, freezing weather, vandalism, or theft, your home insurance should cover the costs. It is important to take note of exactly what occurrences your insurance covers, because there are many circumstances that generally are not covered by standard home insurance, including several types of natural disasters.

Personal Possessions Coverage:

Along with the structure of your actual home, your possessions should also be covered for damages. If you have particularly valuable possessions, such as artwork, it is a good idea to itemize those ahead of time to ensure proper coverage. It is also possible to purchase additional coverage for items that you deem necessary.

Liability Coverage:

In the event that a guest is injured on or by (i.e. your dog bites your neighbor) your property, your home insurance should cover the associated legal and medical bills.

Natural Disasters:

In many cases, natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes are not covered by standard home insurance policies and require separate coverage, also known as endorsements, if desired. It is important to take into consideration where you live and what weather patterns or natural phenomena are likely to occur there, as well as your own sense of well-being, and decide for yourself exactly what events you need to be covered for.

Ultimately, the decision on how much home insurance you purchase boils down to your unique situation. In general, a cheaper policy means less protection, though that is not always the case. Each policy has its own terms and will cover different occurrences up to a certain amount. Most carriers have optional endorsements, which are coverage add-ons or clarifications that can increase the number of situations in which your policy will cover damage to your home. Adding endorsements is always something to consider, especially if you live in an area that can reasonably expect earthquakes, flooding, or other natural phenomena not covered by standard home insurance. Regardless of which carrier you go with, make sure that you know exactly what you are covered for on that particular policy so you can avoid any surprises in an emergency.

While shopping for home insurance isn’t as simple as looking at a few price tags and going with the cheapest one, there are concrete ways to find affordable home insurance that any homeowner can and should take advantage of. What it comes down to is comparing as many providers as possible, knowing the discounts that are available to you, and keeping a few coverage tips in mind while you look.

1. Know how to shop around:

This may seem obvious to some, but it can’t be stressed enough how important it is to compare quotes from multiple providers as often as you can. Making it a habit to compare quotes on home insurance quarterly, or at least each time your policy is up for renewal, can result in huge savings over your lifetime. If you already have home insurance, keep your current policy information within reach to make these comparisons easier. Additionally, always make sure the policies you compare are as similar as possible when it comes to the coverage they offer in order to maximize savings and value.

Home insurance rates are always changing and insurers have no obligation to drop your rates, even when prices across the market fall. The Home Insurance Guide makes it easy to shop around and find cheap home insurance from reputable providers. We base our rankings on our proprietary reviews, ratings, and technology and then personalize your results so you know the providers we recommend are the right choice.

2. Know your discounts:

When it comes to discounts, it’s up to you to ask your provider what you are and aren’t eligible for, because they won’t necessarily tell you up front. The Home Insurance Guide researches and lists discounts by carrier to aid you in finding the right price and provider. Even with this information, it’s important to always confirm your discounts with your provider during the quoting process. While discounts vary, here are some of the most common options we see:

• Home safety features discounts: Some companies offer discounts to homeowners who install and/or maintain safety features on their home, including fire alarms, security systems, or an impact-resistant roof.
• Bundling discounts: As with other types of insurance, home insurance providers regularly have discounts for customers who bundle their home policy with another type of insurance, including car insurance.
• Military discounts: Homeowners who are in the military or who served previously can get great discounts with most carriers.
• Senior discounts: Homeowners 65 and older are likely to receive a discount when purchasing a new policy.

While the above-listed discounts are some of the most common, there are many others available when it comes to home insurance. It’s important to check the discounts each provider offers before settling on a policy, as even one discount can add up to a lot of savings.

3. Know your coverage:

Deciding on how much coverage you want is entirely up to your personal needs. While there are insurance options on both the cheap and expensive ends of the spectrum, here are a few things to keep in mind while you shop:

• Different types of home insurance: There are multiple types of home insurance policies, from HO-1 to HO-8, all varying in price and the degree of protection they offer. As with any insurance, a cheaper policy will likely cover less. Keep in mind the roles depreciation and inflation might play if your home is damaged years after you first purchase your policy -- a cheaper policy may only pay for damages after depreciation is deducted. A more expensive policy, on the other hand, may not only pay enough to cover depreciation, but may also pay more to make up for potential inflation.
• Endorsements and your location: Home insurance policies come with a list of situations in which damage to your home would not be covered, and this usually includes natural disasters. In order to avoid leaving your home unprotected in such an event, endorsements are available as add-on coverage options that homeowners can purchase along with their basic policy. Depending on where you live, adding endorsements can be more or less important -- if you live somewhere that has frequent earthquakes, you should consider adding an earthquake endorsement to your policy. Likewise, if your area has regular flooding, a flood endorsement is a good idea.
• Building materials and safety features: If you plan on any home renovations, take into consideration what materials you are using and what safety features you could add to your home. Your insurance premium could go up or down depending on the materials you choose -- wood, for example, is highly flammable and thus typically costs more to insure than cement. Likewise, safety features can make a difference on your insurance bill as well. Including a security system that may deter burglaries or break-ins is one way to lower insurance costs.

The Home Insurance Guide uses several methods to power our proprietary rankings of insurance companies. One of the most important has proven to be our Agent Survey, where we talked directly with as many independent agents as we could.

We intentionally chose to survey agents who are independent, particularly those who have many years of experience exceeding their clients’ expectations. Since independent agents do not represent any single insurance company, they have a deep understanding of what homeowners and renters need and what various insurance providers offer. In other words, by working each day between people and companies, independent agents are the real experts in the insurance industry.

Additionally, keep in mind that independent agents are not only incentivized when a new client purchases a policy, but also when policies are kept and renewed. Essentially, agents need renewals to be successful, and the best way to get a client to keep their policy going is to find them the best insurance company from day one. Note that since agents are busy, and in order to keep them honest, we only compensated them for their time.

The surveys revealed many valuable insights. However, as we analyzed them, we consistently saw two trends: (1.) no two home insurance providers are the same and (2.) certain companies were consistently better for certain types of homes, homeowners, or renters. Using what we learned, we were able to rate the best providers (on a scale of 1 to 5) as follows:

• Best for Pricing and Cheap Rates
• Fastest for Quotes and Best Online Experience
• Best Financial Strength
• Best for Breadth of Products Offered
• Best for Customer Service and Claims Handling
• Best for Bundling and Discounts

The Agent Survey was also used to inform our reviews. With so many carriers and brokers, we chose to only summarize and highlight the key benefits of those companies with an overall rating of 3.0 or better. Please note that the use of our 2024 home insurance reviews by third parties without the express written consent of The Home Insurance Guide is strictly prohibited.

Based on your answers, here are the 5 best home insurance carriers of 2024 for homeowners and renters just like you. Please click the carriers you are most interested to learn more and to read our proprietary reviews:

Also based on your answers, below are the top 5 home insurance brokers of 2024 for homeowners and renters just like you. Please select the brokers you are interested in to learn more and to read our proprietary reviews: